There are parts of the Old Testament that are particularly instructive, especially when applied to the behavior of governments. Here’s one:
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.[Psalm 94:20-23]
What the Psalmist called framing mischief by a law is known to our time as misfeasance if accidental, malfeasance if deliberate. It’s the use of the law to commit an injustice. God frowns on that sort of thing. We are assured that He will punish it severely. (Cf. “God is not mocked” and “God sees the truth, but waits.”)
Here’s an example of how it would be done today, from Mackey Chandler’s novel All in Good Time:
“I need to understand if you have a specific criminal complaint against us. All I’ve heard so far is you don’t like us because you see us as encroaching on your authority. I’m not growing any fonder of you by the minute either, but I don’t have an inflated opinion of myself to imagine that dislike is actionable.”
“I can hold you on weapons charges,” Mertens assured him.
Mackay just stared at him a moment trying to think how he could rationalize that.
“We were given leave to be armed in France, but cased our weapons under seal when we left France,” Mackay said. “We only had Air Tasers and were assured they were legal for private security in all European jurisdictions. In fact, if you examine my suit video, of which I gave you a copy, you’ll see I never activated those Tasers.”
“Yes, but when you subdued your assailant you took possession of his weapon briefly before you destroyed it. Simple possession is illegal regardless of the duration of possession or your intent in doing so,” Mertens said. “Your associates can be charged as active accomplices in that act.”
“This is dishonest. You are framing mischief by perverting your own law when you know there was no criminal intent.”
I added the emphasis. Here is an example from today’s news:
Four migrants who were busted for allegedly shoplifting at a Long Island Macy’s after being bused to the Big Apple from Texas won’t face deportation — unless they’re convicted, sources and legal experts said Tuesday.
The men, who are charged with stealing more than $12,000 in merchandise from Macy’s Roosevelt Field earlier this month, are getting a break because they are asylum seekers, not illegal immigrants who crossed the US border.
“They are given the benefit of the doubt because they have a pending application with the [US Citizenship and Immigration Services],” Queens-based immigration lawyer Luis Nicho told The Post….
In court the following day, Rafael Rojas and Escobar were released without bail, while Miguel Rojas had bail set at $1,000 and Meza at $1,500, authorities said.
Grand larceny and illegal entry to these United States. Are you in the slightest doubt that those four miscreants will shoplift again while out on bail? What odds would you give that they’ll ever come to trial?
Raymond Ibrahim calls this punishing the victim and rewarding the perpetrator. He has an example, too:
Josh Denny is a comedian. You may have heard of him. He used to work for the Food Network. He’s also pro-life, personally, and willing to say so out loud. Earlier this month, Denny was preparing to host a comedy show in Rutherford, New Jersey. That’s about a half hour outside of New York, but just minutes after the show was announced, Antifa, a violent, radical group, decided to shut it down.
Hundreds of Antifa-affiliated Twitter accounts started bombarding the venue called the Williams Center. They also went after the chief of police of Rutherford, a man called John Russo, and they threatened violence. Now, at that point, a chief of police who wanted to defend the Constitution, his solemn duty, would have pushed back and affirmed the sacred right of free expression of every American, but that’s not what Chief Russo did. Instead, he caved to the demands of the mob.
He warned the venue that the venue might face civil liability if they let free speech continue, if they allowed the show to go on. Then he said he would shut down the show on “public safety grounds.” So ultimately, the Williams Center had no choice and canceled the show. In the end, the only people who showed up at the Williams Center that night were several police officers, and they were there to make sure there was no comedy taking place, none at all.
Then, to add insult to injury, the next morning, the mayor of Rutherford, New Jersey, Frank Nunziato, bragged about what the city had done. He said it was his decision to use the power of the state to cut down comedy.
“Unbeknownst to the borough,” Nunziato wrote, “an event was planned for this evening at the Williams Center, news of which quickly circulated through social media. Online intelligence led the police department to believe that the event had the potential for confrontation. Therefore,” Nunziato said, “after discussions with the owner, the event has been canceled.” Now notice the blame shifting here, “the potential for confrontation.”
It wasn’t the comedian who was going to confront or threaten anyone with violence. It was the radical left-wing group Antifa. But it was the comedian who was punished.
Where the Hell are the vigilance committees? When will We the Longsuffering People decide, en masse, that “our” governments have become our enemies? How much longer will we wait?
